Scripture Cake

 The other day, I received in the mail, a brochure from St. Joseph's Indian School.  It is full of recipes for Christmas.  This one is interesting, Scripture Cake.  I'm definitely making it for the church bake sale.  The references are silly, in that they mention the ingredient.  That's it.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter-- Judges 5:25
1 1/2 cups sugar-- Jeremiah 6:20
1 teaspoon of each: cinnamon, mace, cloves-- 1 Kings 10:10
1/2 teaspoon salt-- Leviticus 2:13
3 eggs-- Isaiah 10: 14
2 teaspoons baking powder-- Luke 13:21
2 cups flour-- 1 Kings 4:22
1/2 cup water-- Genesis 24: 11
1 Tablespoon honey--Proverbs 24: 13
1 cup raisins -- 1 Samuel 30:12
1 cup figs-- 1 Samuel 30:12
1/2 cup almonds-- Genesis 43: 11

DIRECTIONS

Blend butter, sugar, spices, and salt.  Beat egg yolks and add to butter mixture.  Sift in baking powder and flour, then add the water and honey.  Put fruit and nuts through food chopper and chop well.  Fold into batter.  Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.  Bake for 1 hour in 375 degree Fahrenheit oven.

Taking It Personally

After attending Sherry's Weddell's seminar, regarding forming intentional disciples, I've been thinking a lot about how to get people to have a relationship with Jesus.  They need to have a personal relationship with God.

There's many programs.  I guess you have to keep trying different ones and hope they work--different strokes for different folks.

I'm also praying about it.  

In this morning's Office of Readings is confirmation of my line of thought:

You will seek me,
and when you seek with your whole heart,
you will find me;
--I will let myself be found by you, says the Lord.
I will restore your fortunes.

Seek, and you will find,
knock on the door, and it will be opened to you.
--I will let myself be found by you, says the Lord.
Jeremiah 29: 13-14; Matthew 7:7

Amen, Amen.

The Divine Word Expressed

The divine Word is truly expressed in human words.  I'm talking about Scriptures.  My chapter is reading Verbum Domini and I'm loving it.  I'm only in Part I.  This is just the introduction to the overall exhortation, and exhortation is what it is; it's not an encyclical.  I surmise that it is a summary, explanation, and perhaps even Pope Benedict XVI's reflections on the Bishops' Synod in 2008, on the Bible's relationship to the mission of the Church.  I'm appreciating how I view the Bible.  It's not just history, is it?  It's not just stories, nor poetry, or genealogy.  Of course Scriptures have all that and more.

This morning a novice sister read the Reading from Hebrews 4: 12-16.  It echoes my thoughts.


The Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart...


and tonight when I Lector, I'll finish with a newer meaning, the concluding words, "The word of the Lord."

Related articles

• Verbum Domini (biblicalpaths.wordpress.com)
• Major themes of Verbum Domini (ericsammons.com)

Verbum Domini

POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
VERBUM DOMINI
OF THE HOLY FATHER
BENEDICT XVI 
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY,
CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON THE WORD OF GOD
IN THE LIFE AND MISSION OF THE CHURCH

“THE WORD OF THE LORD abides for ever. This word is the Gospel which was preached to you” (1 Pet 1:25; cf. Is 40:8). With this assertion from the First Letter of Saint Peter, which takes up the words of the Prophet Isaiah, we find ourselves before the mystery of God, who has made himself known through the gift of his word. This word, which abides for ever, entered into time. God spoke his eternal Word humanly; his Word “became flesh” (Jn 1:14). This is the good news. This is the proclamation which has come down the centuries to us today. The Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, meeting in the Vatican from 5-26 October 2008, had as its theme: The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church. It was a profound experience of encounter with Christ, the Word of the Father, who is present where two or three are gathered in his name (cf. Mt 18:20). With this Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation I readily respond to the request of the Synod Fathers to make known to the whole People of God the rich fruits which emerged from the synodal sessions and the recommendations which resulted from our common endeavour. Consequently, I intend to revisit the work of the Synod in the light of its documents: the Lineamenta, theInstrumentum Laboris, the Relationes ante and post disceptationem, the texts of the interventions, both those delivered on the Synod floor and those presented in written form, the reports of the smaller discussion groups, the Final Message to the People of God and, above all, a number of specific proposals (Propositiones) which the Fathers considered especially significant. In this way I wish to point out certain fundamental approaches to a rediscovery of God’s word in the life of the Church as a wellspring of constant renewal. At the same time I express my hope that the word will be ever more fully at the heart of every ecclesial activity.....

Continued